Stretch Your Important Bending Muscles before Delivering any Lawn Bowls

 

Even after your brain knows how to deliver a lawn bowl you still need to get your body to comply with whatever it is- either a conscious teaching or a subconscious muscle memory.  This is only trouble-free if you have already warmed up by stretching the muscles you will be using. At the beginning of a match, if you have not properly warmed up, you will bowl poorly, but then, as this bad bowling finally gets your muscles limbered up, you can expect to improve. By then, however, you may be seriously behind in the game. The signs characteristic of inadequate warming up are: (i) initial bad bowling followed by improvement (ii) muscle pain that disappears as you get into the game and (iii) loss of balance on deliveries in the early ends.

For me, the most important stretching exercise is one for my knees and thighs. Simply squatting with thighs splayed at right angles to each other with your trunk stabilized by your hands is enough so long as you hold this position until the initial stress and pain subsides. Rocking forward and back with the support of your hands on the floor in front of you can speed up this adjustment.